


Leave the Spying to the Professionals

by Marlex7



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 09:45:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5370710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marlex7/pseuds/Marlex7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony enters Dr. Foster's lab to ask her a question, but finds it empty. Darcy Lewis' office appears occupied, however, and he can't help himself. But his snooping will result in hearing a phrase or two he was not expecting, and his mind might not be able to handle it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave the Spying to the Professionals

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Bite Sized Bits of Fic community on LiveJournal. The prompt was: MCU, any/any, (704): My apologies. I'll try not to let my dick interfere with official work duties in the future.

Tony walked into Foster's lab to find it empty. The large open room was usually filled with interns racing to do the diminutive scientist's bidding, but now silence and calm reigned. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was half past noon, so he figured they must be at lunch.

“Hello,” he asked the empty room, more for the humor opportunity than any actual expectation of an answer. It was just as well, because none came.

If everyone was actually all out of the lab for lunch, it must have been Lewis who chased them away like a collie herding sheep. And if Foster was gone too, she must have been on a long science bender and Lewis probably enlisted Thor's help. The promise of intergalactic bed shenanigans was about the only thing that could get her out of the lab when she was on a tear. He should know, since Pepper was often the one person who could coax him out of his own lab when work became too tempting.

He looked over at Lewis' office, which she earned when he promoted her from Foster's assistant to lab supervisor. While she didn't always understand the minutiae of the work they did here, she was excellent at managing wayward scientists, so much so that he even allowed her some control over his private labs, although admittedly that was more Pepper’s doing than his.

The door to the lab was closed and the smart glass windows were currently frosted, but he could just make out two shadows within, one relatively short and the other quite tall. Rogers, he decided.

The Captain and Lewis had become unlikely friends over the past several months since he finally agreed to move into tower following the Washington fiasco. It was almost cute in a way, but he knew between her mouth--which featured no filter whatsoever--and his red, white and blue virginity, Rogers was firmly entrenched in the friend zone. Which opened a new train of thought. Did he even know what the friend zone was? He made a note to find out at the earliest and most embarrassing opportunity.

Sudden curiosity overcame Tony about what the two were discussing within her office with the privacy windows in place. Knowing Rogers, it was probably the latest episode of Masterpiece Theatre.

Slowly and quietly as possible, he made his way closer to the office. He couldn’t hear anything and edged nearer. Still nothing, so he risked a few more steps. Just as he was edging up to the door itself to try and listen, it opened, causing him to freeze in place. It was Rogers, his hand on the knob but looking over his shoulder into the office.

“Some of us do have to work for a living,” he heard Lewis say from inside. “Why don’t you go save the world or something?”

“My apologies,” Steve replied. “I'll try not to let my dick interfere with official work duties in the future.”

At that point, Tony’s brain function stopped. One of the smartest human beings in the world, the man who fell through a hole in the sky, found that his brain had encountered something it could not comprehend. He vaguely heard Lewis say, “You do that,” but it was if from very far away.

And then he heard his name. Once. Twice. It was Rogers and he was looking at him with some concern, but still Tony was frozen in place. Then, as if he was breaking the surface of some pool of water--in his mind, he actually heard the splash--his senses returned and the world began moving at normal speed.

“You okay Tony?” Rogers was asking.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said.

The star-spangled hero gave him a small smile and delivered his goodbye to Lewis before walking nonchalantly out of the lab. Tony couldn’t help but watch him leave, at least until he heard Lewis calling his name from within the office.

“You need something Tony?” she asked.

Tony shook his head and walked into her office, where Lewis was sitting behind her desk.

“Umm…” Tony stuttered, still trying to regain his footing on reality as he thought he knew it. “No. I mean yes. I was looking for Foster. I wanted to confirm her latest findings.”

“She’s taking a mandatory afternoon off,” Lewis said. “I found out she’d snuck back into the lab the past two nights.”

“Oh, alright. No problem.”

“You okay Tony?” Lewis asked, repeating Rogers’ earlier question.

“I’m fine.”

Lewis gave him a concerned look, which the broke into a devious smile. And that was when Tony knew.

“Rogers heard me say hello. His damned enhanced hearing. You both knew I was outside your office. That’s why he said what he did.”

“Said what?” Lewis asked entirely too innocently.

“I’ll admit it,” he said. “You got me. You both got me. Very funny. I admit. Point to Lewis and Rogers. His dick interrupting your work duties indeed. Nice one to get Rogers to say dick in front of someone of the female persuasion, by the way.”

“Well, next time don’t try to spy outside my office. Only actual spies are allowed to do that. Good to see you can be a proper sport about it, though, Tony,” Lewis said.

“Well, since Foster isn’t here, I guess I’ll head back up to my lab.”

“Okay, Tony.”

He turned to leave and was just crossing the door’s threshold when Lewis called his name again. He glanced back at her over his shoulder.

“And just so you know Tony, Steve’s dick was not interrupting my official work duties. I was on my lunch hour. Your spying, however, did interrupt that.”

-0-0-0-0-0-

Later that evening, Darcy was eating dinner with Steve on the common floor when Pepper stormed over to them.

“Darcy Lewis, what did you do to Tony?”

“What do you mean,” Darcy asked, putting on her best sincere smile which she knew wouldn’t fool Pepper for a second.

“I’m serious, Darcy. I think you broke him.”

“Well, Tony was trying to snoop on us in my office during lunch and we--” Steve gave her a look. “--I figured it was a good time to let Tony know about...us.”

“What did you do?” Pepper asked.

“Not much, really. Steve might have said something rather...suggestive...as he was leaving.”

“And that was it?” Pepper prompted, sounding more and more like one of Darcy’s sterner teachers from high school.

“Well, after Steve left, I might have implied just what Tony had interrupted.”

At this, Pepper sighed and Steve started making choking sounds, drawing Darcy and Pepper’s attention. As soon as Pepper appeared sure that Steve wasn’t going to die, however, she turned back to Darcy.

“You have to be more careful with him,” Pepper said.

“He should just be glad he didn’t catch us at the Christmas party like you did. You saw a lot more than talking, and all you said was, ‘Way to go Captain,’ and closed the closet door.”

“Yeah, well, some of us can handle things better than others,” Pepper said.

“I’ll remember that in the future.”

“Thank you.”


End file.
